Solid South

The Solid South was an electoral bloc of states in the American South that was in power from the end of Reconstruction in 1876 to the Civil Rights Act of 1964's passage, consisting of states that pledged their support to the conservative southern US Democratic Party. The Solid South was not always solid, with some states voting for the US Republican Party in previous electios, although Arkansas always voted Democratic. In 1964, the passage of the liberal Civil Rights Act led to the Republicans branding themselves as states rights advocates and Christian fundamentalists, winning the support of working-class whites. Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic president to reign over a "Solid South", but he lost the 1980 election in a landslide to Republican Ronald Reagan due to his promises of states rights for southern whites. Since then, the Democrats have become America's liberal party (based in the Northeast and West), while the Republicans have become the conservative party (based in the South and Miwest).